Flow forming is a process used to produce a formed metal part. Flow forming is the use of metal forming lathes to extrude a blank or a preform prepared from a desired material into the formed metal part. Flow forming provides the features traditionally provided by a stamping process while providing the additional benefits of improved dimensional capabilities, work hardening up to three-times the desired material properties, and the ability to use the part after formation with limited or no additional machining required.
Typical flow formed parts include gears, clutch drums, and other similar parts that may include splines. The formation of parts having closed ended splines has presented a problem wherein a tool used to form the part and a subsequent process used to trim or machine the part results in undesirable burrs and other surface flaws on the formed part. Therefore, the cost of production and the overall efficiency of the process utilizing the part are adversely affected.
It would be desirable to produce a tool for forming a splined part, which minimizes machining and production costs for making splined parts and maximizes efficiency.